Ed Miliband is to step up his attack on David Cameron over living standards, accusing the coalition Government of “shrugging their shoulders” about low wages and rising prices.

The Labour leader will point to figures suggesting that more than half of electricity and gas price hikes over the past three years have been pocketed by energy firms.

He will challenge Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs to back his policy of freezing energy bills in a Commons vote tomorrow.

Experts slam net migration target

The Government’s target to cut net migration to the UK to the tens of thousands by 2015 is “neither a useful tool nor a measure of policy effectiveness”, a group of academics has warned.

A discussion paper, published online by Professor John Salt and Dr Janet Dobson, from the Migration Research Unit at University College London, looked at progress towards the target since the coalition Government was formed in 2010.

In most recent figures, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed a net flow of 176,000 migrants came to the UK in the year to December 2012, up from 153,000 in the year to September 2012, ending five consecutive quarters of decline.

Immigrants’ £25bn boost for taxman

Immigrants to the UK in the last decade contributed £25 billion more in tax than they received in benefits and were less likely to claim handouts or live in social housing than people already living in Britain, a report has found.

The study, by University College London, found that people who had moved to the UK since 2000 had made a “substantial” contribution to public finances, rather than being a drain on them, the BBC said.

It was estimated that their net contribution was £25 billion over a period of 10 years.

Plebgate officers due before MPs

Two police officers caught up in the so-called plebgate row face a public scolding today as they are hauled before MPs to apologise for giving “misleading” evidence.

Police Federation representatives Detective Sergeant Stuart Hinton and Sergeant Chris Jones will appear before the Home Affairs Select Committee for the second time in as many weeks.

Along with Inspector Ken MacKaill, the two officers were accused of attempting to discredit former Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell after meeting him in October last year.

MPs to grill payday loan firms

MPs will grill payday loan companies today as part of a Government crackdown on the short-term lending sector.

Representatives from Wonga, QuickQuid and Mr Lender – three of the biggest payday lending firms – will appear before the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee.

MPs are expected to follow up on a damning report by the Office of Fair Trading that found “deep-rooted” problems in the way payday loans attract and treat customers.

Burka fugitive in tag tamper probe

A terror suspect who disguised himself as a woman to escape surveillance is believed to have been cleared of tampering with his electronic monitoring tag on the day he went missing.

Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed, who was last seen fleeing a mosque while wearing a burka, is understood to have received training and fought overseas for al-Shabaab, the Somalia-based cell of the militant Islamist group al Qaida.

On the day of his disappearance, he was cleared at the Old Bailey of tampering with his tag, it is understood.

MPs urge Royal tax probe

The Treasury has been urged to investigate whether the Prince of Wales’s estate has an “unfair advantage” over commercial rivals because it is exempt from costly business taxes.

MPs want officials to assess if the Duchy of Cornwall, a portfolio of land, property and investments, has led to the creation of an “unlevel playing field” because it is not liable for corporation tax or capital gains tax.

Over the last financial year it generated £28.8 million and Charles received an income of £19 million, up 4% on the previous year.

Blunkett calls for spy laws review

Britain’s intelligence laws should be reviewed in the wake of the eavesdropping row, former home secretary David Blunkett has said.

The Labour MP said spy agencies could get “carried away” demanding new powers unless they were challenged.

A high-level commission should consider the impact of new technologies and how laws like the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (Ripa) could be “trimmed”, he insisted.

MPs ‘should get ethics training’

MPs and peers should be given “ethics training” to help them avoid abusing their positions, according to a sleaze watchdog.

The move is among a range of changes proposed by the Committee on Standards in Public Life to address concerns around lobbying.

Chairman Lord Paul Bew said people needed to know that vested interests were not having undue influence over decision-makers following a series of scandals.

‘Benefit cap’ challenge considered

Lone mothers and their children will learn the outcome of their legal challenge to the Government’s flagship “benefit cap” policy today.

Two judges are being asked to rule that new capping regulations introduced by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith are “unlawful” and breach the human rights of out-of-work women struggling to bring up families on their own.

The capping affects housing benefit, child benefit and child tax credit to families who do not work sufficient hours to qualify for working tax credit and is set at £500 per week for couples or lone parents.